Month: October 2012

So I am starting a new series about lifestyle changes. I’m not going on a diet. I’m not cutting out all spending. I’m not just trying to go to the gym every day. I’m doing it all. My roommates and I have started a challenge to take all of the aspects of our lives that we want to improve and changing our habits to reflect those improvements. I will be documenting the experience and hopefully it will motivate you to make some changes in your own life!

The Breakdown:

1. Spending/Saving Habits: I want to start saving money and I have tried this many different times but have been unsuccessful. It is all about tracking your spending and actively making decisions that will positively impact your goal to save. Mint.com is a great way to start this! You can link it to your bank account and it will tell you when you’ve gone over your budget. You can set goals and it will tell you how to get there. There’s also an app for your phone!

2. Eating/Exercising Habits: This is just about getting into a routine and holding yourself accountable. If you know what open time slots you have in your day to go to the gym, go then. You know what time is best for you to workout and it’s just about doing it. It doesn’t need to be a lot. It just needs to be consistent. I’ve started using Lose It! which is an app for your phone that tracks your daily calorie intake and how many calories you should be having every day in order to reach your goal weight. I’ve tried it before and it takes a lot of discipline to keep putting in your meals but hopefully you should see good results!

3. Grades: Once again, you know how you study. You know how you do well in courses and if you don’t talk to your professors or your friends to get ideas! The only way you’re going to do well in your courses is if you put in the time and the work. If you half-ass it, your grade is going to reflect that and trust me I’ve been there.

The thing that I need to accept at the beginning of this change is it’s not going to happen over night. I have to keep at it for a decent amount of time to see results and then once I see results I’ll have more motivation to keep it up. The next three weeks is my trial run. This was day one and the only thing I struggled with was the calorie intake. Dropping from probably 2000 calories to 1200 calories is a drastic change, but I just need to get my body adjusted!

Comment on the post if you want to join the challenge and let me know how it goes for you! Get on your grind!

Think of this as your mid-semester report. Remember the goals you had set for yourself before school started and all of the things that you wanted to accomplish? We are now two months into the semester and there are only two months left. Use this time to grade yourself. Have you been going to the gym as much as you wanted? Have you been eating as healthily as you had planned? Are your grades where they need to be in order to achieve the GPA you planned? If you aren’t where you want to be, make an action plan to get there. If your grades have dropped to C’s, check your syllabi for how many assignments you have left and how well you need to do on all of them to get that final grade up. If you have lost your motivation to stay in shape, make a new board on Pinterest, take notes on all of the pins you find and then make a weekly plan for how you’re going to make it a reality. it’s okay if you lost track of your goals for the semester if you make the effort to work harder to make it happen. In a couple of months you will be starting to think of new year resolutions and you don’t want them to be the same ones that you make every year. Finish off the year strong so you can accomplish new things next year. Take it a day at a time!

I can’t get over what a busy month October has been and how fast it has gone by, which is actually the perfect way to get into the topic of this post. You never know what you’ve got until it’s gone. And then when it’s gone all you can do is reminisce on all of the great things and how you took them for granted.

How about this: enjoy it while you have it. Lately I’ve noticed everyone freaking out about something while it’s happening instead of being in the moment. It’s almost impossible to enjoy something if you’re questioning every second. I’ll put it into perspective with a real life example.

Ladies: So you are texting this guy that you really like and it’s new so you’re excited. Instead of freaking out every time he texts you and asking your friends what to say, enjoy the conversation. If he says something that throws you off, keep it going. Trust me, he’s not wording things a certain way to send you mixed messages..he’s sending a text while probably not paying attention.

Another one: You are trying to get over someone (and you’re past the rebound state) and you spend all your time complaining to your friends how you want a new guy to talk to and blahblahblah. Then, a new guy starts pursuing you. Instead of instantly coming up with five things that are “wrong” with him, see where it goes! Unless you are 100% not interested, give it a chance. You have absolutely nothing to lose.

All I am saying is, don’t let a good thing pass without appreciating it while it’s great. That’ll make after it ends (hopefully it doesn’t) a lot easier to handle because you won’t have to deal with regretting the things you should’ve done or said. Hindsight is 20/20 but in the moment can be pretty clear too if you make the effort.

Happy October everyone! This month has definitely had a crazy start and I hope everyone hasn’t been as busy/stressed as I am. What better to relieve some stress than shoes! Fall shoes are my favorite. I was finally able to whip out my new Steve Madden boots and I will be wearing my combat boots next week! You also get to wear ballet flats, booties, loafers, moccasins and for those comfy days, Uggs.

It’s that point in the semester where your workload begins to pile up and your stress level goes through the roof. Want to know how to handle the stress?

1. Get sleep!

Seriously this is the most important thing. At times like this, it is imperative that you get your 8 hours in. Our first thought is to pull an all-nighter or to stay up really late but this hurts you a lot more than it helps. The later it gets, the quality of your work only get worse.

2. Make a plan

The easiest way to get behind on your work is to not know when everything is due. To start, make a list of all of your assignments that are due. Then break them up into tasks. If you need to study for an exam, plan a time to fill in your study guide, make note cards, and then go over all the information. The way you break up your tasks depends on the way you study best. Don’t wait until the last day to everything. The more you spread it out the better.

3. Stay calm

Once you start freaking out, it takes a lot longer to get things done. You are going to get it all done because you have to get it all done. Stressing only makes it more difficult to accomplish everything.

4. Reward yourself

Plan to do something fun with your friends once you’re done with all of your work. Go on a weekend trip, treat yourself to a shopping trip, or just relax. If you have something to look forward to, you’ll work harder to get it done faster.